Authors

Author Biography

Austen D. Givens is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Cybersecurity Programs at Utica College, a National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education. He may be reached at adgivens@utica.edu.

Dr. Nathan E. Busch is Professor of Political Science at Christopher Newport University (CNU) in Newport News, VA, and Co-Director of CNU's Center for American Studies. He may be reached at nbusch@cnu.edu.

Alan Bersin served as Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security in the Obama Administration. He currently is a Global Fellow at the Wilson Center and Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. He may be reached at adbersin@icloud.com.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.11.3.1689

Subject Area Keywords

Abstract

Scholarship examining U.S. homeland security policy proceeds from the assumption that homeland security policy-making is a largely domestic—that is, United States-centric—endeavor. This article challenges that assumption. The mission of the Homeland Security Enterprise is domestic security but achieving a satisfactory state of preparation, prevention, response, recovery and resilience requires efforts that extend beyond our boundaries. We argue that advances in technology and globalization have accelerated the degree to which global events directly and indirectly influence U.S. homeland security. Contemporary threats do not recognize national boundaries; efforts to counter them, accordingly, must transcend border lines as well. In this article, we present evidence from the homeland security sub-fields of border security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity, public health, and disaster management to show that U.S. homeland security policy is now inherently transnational in nature and therefore best analyzed and understood by taking a broader, global perspective.